Main menu

The greatest novel I ever read.

I do believe that Mr. Palahniuk has out done himself with this one. Some people say that novels exist to tell not just a story of fiction but the story that is the human condition. The trials and tribulation of the individual as well as the society we see and see ouselves as. Diary has done that- but on a grand, majestic and timeless level. I place this book up there with the iliad and the godspells. Observing the life of Misty Marie as she is manipulated (and I use that term awkwardly for even without the covert intervention and influence of the Island Elders she may very well had ended up just as the story concluded) by the Waytansee natives, I can't help but feel that, in real life, we are all "betrayed by everything we do"- that everything we do is a diary that will repeat itself in the next life like the grooves of some great eternal vynil record. That maybe there is such a thing as destiny, maybe there is such a thing as....fate. It's almost like you get a glimpse of the very meaning of life within the words of this great epic. It also gives me an idea about why it is we suffer- to get closer to God. The path to enlightment is beset with pain.

I've only read 350 pages of it and Moby-Dick is the greatest novel i've ever read. If the rest of it completely sucked or I just stopped right now, that half-a-book would far and away surpass anything.

I didn't much care for Diary, just seemed to be trying too hard to be a new Rosemary's Baby.

Yeah, it was very different from his other novels, but it sort of felt, to me, like a Palahniuk take on a Vonnegut novel. I thought the pacing of Monsters dragged too much, which Chuck corrected in his later work.

Ah, the anti-flag. Nice. Anyway, I burned out my capitalists-are-co-opting-all-the-anarchist-symbols-because-leftism-isn't-very-big-in-America rant after class a couple days ago. Alas. The red and black makes a striking avatar, though.

this thread is good at pointing out how for all the crap out there, there's someone who it's the greatest thing they've ever seen.
There is someone out there, walking around right now, who's favorite movie of all time is The Hills Have Eyes 2.
This is the world we live in.

seriously, i bet there is at least 10,000 people on MySpace with that listed as their favorite movie. which sounds like a lot, but out of however many hundred million people it's not really. It's just the fact that that would exist at all that boggles.

it isnt my favorite, but i loved it. i enjoyed lullaby more because it had more to it, but diary was still strong imo

and snuff, i dont think, was supposed to be taken seriously. kind of like the movie dogma, with the shit monster and all of the commentary on religion and george carlin as the bishop haha wasnt exactly a serious movie. just entertainment. i'm sorry to read that it has killed some of your pleasure reading drive, shana. that hurts my feelings just knowing. i dont think ive ever read anything that killed my gravitational pull toward reading. but maybe, as it doesnt seem impossible or even improbable. it didnt take too long for me to get involved again in reading. i'm always looking for that different way books are written, so i can see it all and improve my own ideas on the craft. guess that's why i love following chuck's work so much; he always crafts his novels a different way-

hope youve gotten out of that dark-reading place and have picked up books since. if it helps any, rant is a pain in the ass to read, what with all of the interview snippets and half page accounts and so many fucking names to somehow keep in your head, but it is fucking great-

if youd like, i can send you a slim but great book, and you can pick among three:

-in the cut
by susanna moore, excruciating and one of bret ellis' favorite endings--you can keep it

-franny and zooey
one of meerk and baer's favorite reads, i misplaced my copy during some backpacking weekend episode years ago and ordered another used one and i got tired of waiting so i bought one the other day when i bought the hardcover of pygmy and figured i'd cancel my order today, and it came in today--you can keep it, in other words

or

-jesus' son
by denis johnson, one of chuck's favorite books, and hands down my woman's favorite movie, history history--you'd have to send it back, though, because it was a gift from meerk a few years ago

I agree. My buddy and I decided that the first 50 pages and the last 50 pages of Invisible Monsters were incredible. The two hundred inbetween dragged quite a lot. It was like an accordion that Chuck (Lord Xenu?) should have pushed in, rather than stretched out.

it was the first one of his i read after seeing fight club. i was hooked from start to end. i thought it was so tense. i just wanted to scream "run, escape, flee stop painting and leg it" at the page by the end. lol. i became an instant fan of palahniuk after that

I believe it's one of the most beautiful novels I've ever read, I know I'm going to sound crazy but honestly I don't give a fuck, the way I felt when I read each word was amazing, Misty is such a great character even though it's a bit depressing, still that's part of everything in the story and you have to admit that the way "she tells" her story makes you feel the way she did.

Alright, am I the only one that felt it was really predictable? I kind of called the ending from the very first time that Maura and Constance were mentioned. I still liked it a lot, it just didn't feel monumental because I wasn't mind-blown at the end.

I loved diary too. The first time I read it it kinda went by and I didn't really know what to make of it. When I read it the second time it really sunk in. Apart from the supernatural momentum the book holds some deep philosophy about art/creativity and love in all its shades.
I'd love to see it made into a movie as well.

Just a thought but I think Mary Louise Parker off 'Weeds' would make the perfect Misty in the movie version.

I found the build towards Diary's ending the most satisfying of Chuck's books, but I found most of the book to be boring and frustrating; throughout I was going "All right, I get it, something sinister is building around Misty; get on with it and explain what it is, Palahniuk!"

Also, it may be truer to reality that people get stuck in terrible situations/lives and that they fail to make any effort to escape them despite all warnings, or signs their lifestyle is destroying them - what psychologists would call 'learned helplessness' - but it is infuriating as a reader when we're forced to follow a protagonist who behaves like this.

I have a question for all you wiser posters than I, though:

In relation to Chuck's descriptions of the Jain Buddhists and Essene Jews, where is this research coming from? I've looked all over the Net and can't find anything properly linked and referenced in relation to their claims to magical powers through an ascetic, suffering lifestyle. I can certainly find a lot of reading on what it entails being a Jainist or Essene, but not the magical powers or miracles part - and I'm talking thoroughly referenced and annotated pages here, not just some blog entry copied from another random, unreferenced source.

I'd like to know what books Chuck read in his research for this particular subject.

Important Disclaimer: Although this is Chuck Palahniuk’s official website, we are in essence, more an official ‘fansite.’ Chuck Palahniuk himself does not own nor run this website. Nor did he create it. It was started by Dennis Widmyer, who is the webmaster and editor of most of the content. Chuck Palahniuk himself should not be held accountable nor liable for any of the content posted on this website. The opinions expressed in the news updates, content pages and message boards are not the opinions of Chuck Palahniuk nor his publishers. If you are trying to contact Chuck Palahniuk, sending emails to this website will not get you there. You should instead, take the more professional route of contacting his publicist at Doubleday.